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The Mashantucket Pequot Tribe is disputing the legitimacy of a union vote at Foxwoods Resort Casino. The casino accuses union officials of making racist statements by saying tribal employees would have job priority over nontribal employees. Foxwoods said the union made "inflammatory appeals to voters' political, racial and/or ethnic prejudices."

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Foxwoods Resort Casino engineering employees voted 139-103 to join a union. The Mashantucket Pequot Tribe changed its labor laws in June to allow union votes by a simple majority. "The tribe changed their law because of the outcome last time, so now we've prevailed," said Gary Archer, the union's lead organizer.

The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, owner of the Foxwoods Resort Casino, plans to file an appeal over a vote to unionize by the resort's beverage department workers because the vote was not conducted under tribal law. "The tribe will file objections with the National Labor Relations Board and will encourage that agency to conduct the case-by-case analysis that it has previously committed to do," the casino said in a statement.

Foxwoods Resort Casino could file a lawsuit over a vote to unionize by the casino's bartenders and other workers. "We continue to believe tribal law should apply in these matters and will continue to pursue that challenge through all appropriate legal channels," said Jackson King, general counsel for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. The vote took place under U.S. labor law instead of tribal law.

The National Labor Relations Board ruled against the Foxwoods Resort Casino over unionization efforts by the casino's bartenders. Foxwoods, operated by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, claimed the casino should be exempt from union efforts because of tribal sovereignty. The NLRB directed that a secret-ballot election should be held allowing bartenders to vote on joining the United Food and Commercial Workers Union.

Bartenders at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut have asked to vote on union representation. The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, which operates the casino, opposes a union as a threat to tribal sovereignty. "We continue to believe that tribal law should apply in these matters," said Rodney Butler, chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Council.